Railway-switch



(No Model.) v 2 Sheets-Shet 1. S. STEWART.

RAILWAY SWITCH. No. 399,792. Patented Mar. 19,. 1889.

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RAILWAY SWITGH.

No. 399,792. PatentedMar. 19, 1889.

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SI'IAIV STEIVART, OF STUART, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF TIVO-THIRDS TO J. G.

OROOKETT, OF SAME PLACE, AND SHA\V STEI/VART,

ILLINOIS.

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RAILWAY SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,792, dated'March19,1889.

Application filed Kay 17, 1887. fierial No. 238,555. (No model.)

To all Lu/ 00772 it may concern:

Be it known that I, SHAW STEWART, a citi zen oi the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Stuart, in the county of Adair and State ofIowa, have invented an Improved. Railway-SWitch, of which the followingis a specification.

Heretofore the adjustable end of each switch-rail has been made taperingby cutting the ball and flange away from one side to allow it to jointhe main or track rail while the body of the switch-rail was not inparallel position with the main rail.

My object is to prevent such cutting away and weakening of switclrrails;and my invention consists in the construction and combination of twistedswitch-rails and operating mechanism with the main rails of a track, ashereinafter set forth, pointed outin my claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a plan view of my completeswitch; Fig. 2, a vertical and longitudinal sectional view of Fig. 1;Fig. 3, a view through the line 00; Fig. l, a view through the line y y;Fig. 5, a view through. the line .2' of Fi 1., and Fig. 6 a perspectiveview of a modified form of my twisted switclrrail.

A A are the rails of a continuous fixed track. One is bent laterally toconnect with a branch track, as shown in United States Patent Jo.157,395, issued December 1, 1874;.

B B are myswitch-1ails constructed by simply taking sections of commonrails and twisting them, so that the side edge of the ball at themovable end of each switch-rail'will be on top and the bulk of the ballin a right-angled position to the same ball at the opposite end of thesame switch-rail.

O O are fixed metal plates upon which the adjustable ends of theswitch-rails slide.

(Z is a bar fixed to the adjustable ends of the switch-rails B andextended laterally to be connected with a lever in a common way, so thatthey can be jointly moved relative to the track-rails A.

d and d are additional connecting-bars fixed to the flanges of theswitch-rails. To allow the balls of the movable ends of the switclrrailsto come in close contact with the ends of the track-rails, I simplygroove the upper edge of the balls, as shown in Fig. 3. To prevent theflanges of the car-wheels from striking the ends of the webs of thetwisted switch-rails, I simply depress the centers of the ends of thewebs, as shown in Figs. 1 and F F are sliding guard-rails formed fromsections of common rails by cutting the balls and webs shorter thantheir flanges and then bending one end of each section downward anddoubling their flanges downward and toward each other, as shown in Fig.2, and as required to engage the ends of fixed plates upon which theguardrails slide in concert with the movements of the switch-rails B.71, is a bar fixed to the parallel guard-rails.

J is a lever of the first order, pivoted to the center of a cross-tie insuch a manner that its short arm can be pivoted to the center of theconnecting-bar h, and its long arm with the cross-bar (Z at the movableends of the switchrails, as shown in Fig. 1, and as required to move theswitch-rails and guards simultaneously by means of the switclroperatinglever connected with the cross bar (Z.

In place of twisting the entire switch-rails at their central portions,I simply twist the balls and webs of the ends, as shown in Fig. 6, sothat the flanges will be bent laterally, but remain flat-bottomed, andthe complete switch-rails thus only partially twisted and adapted to beapplied and operated to accomplish the results contemplated by myinvention.

In practical operation the twisted or partially-twisted switch-railswill transfer the flanged wheels of cars from a main track to a branchtrack, and vice versa, as readily and smoothly as any switch rails thatare tapered at their ends, and in view of the fact that the twistedrails are not reduced and weakened they will be more durable and lastingthan pointed and tapering switch-rails.

One of the flanges of each guard-rail F is cut away, as shown in Fig. 5,to allow the balls of the guards to be brought in close contact with theballs of switch-railsB to prevent accidents incident to misplacedswitches. \Vhen the switch is set for the main line and z amt theguard-rails in position, as shown in Fig. 1 a train on the main trackcan pass the switch in either direction without incurring risk ordanger, and if a train should approach the switch from the branch trackthe flanges of the wheels that tread upon the switch-rail B will engagethe guard-rail that is in contact with -said switch=rail, and will beelevated on the guard *rail as they advance, so that the wheels on theswitch-rail will be transferred from the switch-rail to the main-trackrail outside of the switch-rail as the wheels on the opposite sides ofthe cars and track are advancing over the track-rail A. The cars arethus safely transferred from a branch track to the main track when theswitch is set for the main line.

In order to elevate the wheels of a car or train at the point wheretheir flanges would otherwise Wedge in between the switch-rail and thefixed rail when the movable end of the switch-rail is in contact withthe fixed rail, I cut a groove in the side of the ball of theswitch-rail, as clearly shown in Fig. 4:, to produe an inclined plane,in combination with a tapering plate fixed to the web of the switchrail,so that the flanges of the wheels advancing toward the switch-rail setfor the siding will always rise upon the inclined plane thus formed, tobe thereby prevented from wedging between the switch-rail and the fixedrail, and also thereby aided in passing from the outside of theswitchuail to advance over the top of the twisted switch-rail until itpasses the switch-point and assumes its place on the inside of the mainrail; and while the wheel on one side of a car is elevated by theinclined plane the flange of its mating wheel will be in its normalposition down on the inside of the main rail, and the switch-rail on theinside of the flange will serve as a guard to prevent lateral motion ordeflection of the Wheel that is elevated and advancing over the top ofthe switch-rail.

I claim as my invention 1. A twisted switch-rail having a groove in theside of its ball anda tapering bar fixed to its web to produce aninclined plane, for the purposes stated.

2. In a railway-switch, the combination of twisted switch-rails withfixed track-rails, for

the purposes stated.

SHAW STEWART. WVitnesses:

S. R. MOMARRIGOT, J. R. BATES.

